and the totalitarianism continues

If someone had told you on 2 May 1997 that after 10 years of a New Labour government anyone arrested for picking wild flowers, even if not later charged, would have a DNA sample taken and that their details would stay on a database to be seen by prospective employers until they reach the age of 100, would you have believed them?

Today I read that "Suspects accused of trivial "crimes" such as picking wild flowers or defacing coins can have their DNA stored for life on a national database, police guidelines reveal. A report by police chiefs lists more than 5,000 offences that qualify for lifelong inclusion on the database. Anyone arrested for any of the crimes will have his or her DNA taken and stored, even if charges are later dropped or the suspect is acquitted in court. The offences show up in employment-vetting checks for years after the event. Campaigners called the guidelines a step on the road to a "surveillance society" and said the inclusion of petty offences was accelerating the growth of the database, which already holds details on four million people...Police have categorised the crimes into three grades of severity. If an adult is convicted of a crime in the least-serious category, group C, it will show up in employment checks for the next 10 years. If the offender admits guilt and accepts a police caution, it will show up for five years. After that period, the only potential employers who will see it are those conducting "enhanced checks" on job-seekers applying to work with children. It also remains visible to detectives during crime investigations until the individual's 100th birthday, when the record is finally deleted.".